By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
It was a story of being helped and hurt by the home run for the Marlins on Monday night.
Three early solo shots provided a quick lead, but the Reds powered back with a pair of two-run blasts in the seventh inning to claim an 8-7 win, snapping the Marlins' seven-game winning streak.
Jeff Keppinger broke up a tie with his home run off Taylor Tankersley in the decisive seventh. After Ken Griffey Jr. drew a walk, Brandon Phillips belted a 428-foot drive that opened what seemed to be a comfortable four-run margin.
Yet the Marlins made it interesting in the eighth, scoring three runs -- with two unearned -- because Griffey dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Mike Rabelo with the bases loaded, scoring two runs. Griffey did, however, make a running grab to rob Alfredo Amezaga. On that final out, though, the ball popped out of Griffey's glove, but the veteran snared it with his left hand.
Now 3-1 on their road trip, the Marlins fell two games short of matching their longest ever winning streak. Florida entered Monday with the best record in the Major Leagues, a distinction the franchise has never had this late in the season. On May 30, 2004, the club did enjoy the top mark in the National League.
The Marlins received home runs from Jeremy Hermida, Hanley Ramirez, and Dan Uggla, who now has four home runs over three straight games.
After falling behind by three, the Reds grabbed the lead with a two-run sixth inning. A leadoff walk to Joey Votto put starter Burke Badenhop in a bind. Edwin Encarnacion's double put runners on second and third. Adam Dunn's sacrifice fly tied it, and advanced Encarnacion to third. Still, Badenhop was in position to keep the score even after Paul Bako lifted a pop to shortstop. With two outs and Harang batting, Badenhop threw a wild pitch.
Uggla's double and a sacrifice fly by Rabelo pulled the Marlins even at 4, but the Reds roared ahead in their half of the inning.
Power, a big part of the offense, showed up in the first inning for Florida. Hermida and Ramirez went back-to-back off Aaron Harang, who entered the game having allowed five home runs over 48 1/3 innings entering the game.
It was the fifth time this season Florida has homered in consecutive at-bats.
Badenhop held the Reds scoreless until the fifth inning. With two outs, Corey Patterson placed an RBI double just fair down the right-field line. Patterson scored on Jorge Cantu's throwing error after he collected Keppinger's ground ball to third.
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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